Formosa undariae sp. nov., isolated from a reservoir containing the brown algae Undaria pinnatifida

Abstract

A strain of Gram-staining-negative, aerobic, non-flagellated, non-gliding and rod-shaped bacteria, designated WS-MY3T, was isolated from a brown algae reservoir in South Korea. Strain WS-MY3T grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0–8.0 and in the presence of 2.0–3.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain WS-MY3T fell within the cluster comprising the type strains of species of the genus Formosa , clustering coherently with the type strains of Formosa agariphila and Formosa algae . It exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 98.7, 97.9 and 96.8 % to the type strains of F. agariphila, F. algae and Formosa spongicola , respectively. Strain WS-MY3T contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and iso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 3-OH, iso-C15 : 1 G and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids of strain WS-MY3T were phosphatidylethanolamine and two unidentified lipids. The DNA G+C content of strain WS-MY3T was 37.3 mol% and its DNA–DNA relatedness values with F. agariphila KCTC 12365T and F. algae KCTC 12364T were 23 % and 17 %, respectively. The phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness and differential phenotypic properties revealed that strain WS-MY3T is separate from the three recognized species of the genus Formosa . On the basis of the data presented, strain WS-MY3T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Formosa , for which the name Formosa undariae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is WS-MY3T ( = KCTC 32328T = CECT 8286T).